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To: filbert

They say that the danger in a tornado is the sudden change of pressure as the funnel tracks over a house. The house will inflate and blow its boards all over the yard like it has exploded. The hurricane might have the same wind, but the change in pressure isn't so intense. The danger from flying objects would be the same.


1,936 posted on 08/28/2005 1:48:17 PM PDT by RightWhale (Partly cloudy, 56 degrees, wind <5 knots in Fairbanks)
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To: RightWhale

The change in pressure is pretty shocking in a hurricane, but it occurs more slowly than a tornado. It's a fast change, though. You have to clear your ears constantly. I don't actually know how low the pressure is inside an F3 tornado, though.


2,041 posted on 08/28/2005 1:57:45 PM PDT by Sam Cree (absolute reality - Miami)
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To: RightWhale
They say that the danger in a tornado is the sudden change of pressure as the funnel tracks over a house. The house will inflate and blow its boards all over the yard like it has exploded. The hurricane might have the same wind, but the change in pressure isn't so intense. The danger from flying objects would be the same.

Actually no, it's the wind.

Even with the windows closed, most houses and commercial buildings have enough openings to vent the pressure difference in the time that it takes for a tornado to pass. The engineering team at Texas Tech's Institute for Disaster Research (Minor et al., 1977) point out that the pressure drop inside a tornado with 260 mph winds is only about 10%, or just 1.4 pounds per square inch. Most buildings can vent this difference through its normal openings in about three seconds. That is sufficient time even if the tornado is moving forward at a very rapid 60 mph. In the real world, the discussion is pointless. That violent a tornado would totally blow apart a house before the central low pressure ever arrived. Venting of air to relieve pressure would not be an issue.

2,076 posted on 08/28/2005 2:01:24 PM PDT by filbert (More filbert at http://www.medary.com)
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To: RightWhale
They say that the danger in a tornado is the sudden change of pressure as the funnel tracks over a house. The house will inflate and blow its boards all over the yard like it has exploded. The hurricane might have the same wind, but the change in pressure isn't so intense. The danger from flying objects would be the same.

I'm visualizing the roof of the Superdome if the eye passes directly over it

2,192 posted on 08/28/2005 2:12:21 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor
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